Femoral Head Remodeling After Surgical Reduction of Developmental Hip Dislocations

Abstract

Objective: Developmental dysplasia of the hip is prevalent and is associated with dysplasia of both the femoral head and acetabulum. There is a paucity of literature describing femoral head remodeling after surgical reduction of developmentally dislocated hips. The purpose of this study was to describe and quantify changes in femoral head sphericity after closed or open reduction for developmental dysplasia of the hip. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed including patients with typical developmental hip dislocations who underwent closed or open reduction from 2009 to 2022 at a single institution and had immediate postoperative and average 3-week follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. A subset of patients also had 3-year follow-up MRI scans. Patients with insufficient imaging or bony procedures at the time of reduction were excluded. We developed a technique to quantify femoral head “sphericity” by comparing differences in measured radii of the femoral head on axial and coronal plane MRI slices. We then calculated the variance of the radii for each plane and averaged these to calculate a combined variance. The variance was used to represent “sphericity,” with a larger variance indicating a wider distribution of radii and thus a less spherical shape. Results: A total of 74 patients (69 females) with 96 hips were included in this series. The median age of the child at the time of reduction was 8.7 months [interquartile range (IQR): 2.2]. Over half (58.3%) of the hips had a closed reduction, whereas the remaining were open reduced (41.7%). Immediately postoperatively, at the 3-week time point, and at the 3-year time point the median combined variance was 1.1 (IQR: 3.93), 0.51 (IQR: 1.32), and 0.31 (IQR: 0.50), respectively, indicating improved sphericity over time. Conclusions: Sphericity of the femoral head in developmental hip dislocations improves in both the immediate postoperative period, as well as the first few years after reduction. Further research is needed to evaluate the mechanism of remodeling, the ideal timing of reduction, and the relationship between femoral head and acetabular remodeling. Level of Evidence: Level IV—case series, therapeutic study.